Introducing Eyeshadow School. Day one: The Rules.

Posted on July 7, 2014

Let’s talk about eye shadow.

On a quite regular basis I hear these words (or some derivative of):
“I am clueless with eye shadow.”

For a long time this struck me as odd.
Eyeshadow is so simple?
Is this just something people say? Like “Oh, I’m bad with names.” Or “Don’t look at my house, it’s a disaster!” (Cue spotless home)
I decided that it must be but after so many years of hearing it SO many times I finally decided I needed to find out what the problem was. How is something so simple becoming so complicated?
Why don’t women feel confident about their shadowing abilities?
What’s the deal here?

From then on “I’m terrible with eye shadow.” was no longer a question when posed to me, it was an opening for an interrogation.
What do you mean? What can’t you do? What looks have you tried to attain? Why didn’t it turn out how you wanted?

Finally, I came to some conclusions on what the gap was and Eyeshadow School was born.

Fist things first.
I’ll start with the“RULES OF EYESHADOW”
According to me:

Rule #1: NOT ALL EYES WERE CREATED THE SAME.
You already know this but the differences might be making you feel like you are doing something wrong trying to attain a certain look when you’re not, eye shape can completely change the way shadow looks.
Take for instance Lilly Ghalichi:

An awful lot of the eye shadow pins on Pinterest that I see all the time are done on eyes like these.
Her eyes are prominent.
This changes the way shadow look A TON. For a couple main reasons.
1. You can see her eyelid below the crease when her eyes are open.
2. Since her eye protrudes the thickness and heaviness of her shadow and liner can be amped up a great deal without it looking like a black eye.
3. She has a natural crease that is heavy. Even if she only put one color of eyeshadow on her entire lid it would like much darker in the crease because it’s deep and that creates a shadow.
And while I LOVE her eyes and I think that prominent eyes are beautiful, most of the eyes that I makeup or see on a daily basis are not prominent.
Usually, most women I see are somewhere between Lilly’s eyes and Jessica Beil’s eyes:

She has a lower, finer crease. The shadow below her crease can’t really be seen when her eyes are open.

Both are stunningly beautiful. And both can do any eyeshadow they want! But it’s not going to look the same and if you expect it to, you’ll probably think you did something wrong.
All of this might be really obvious to some of you but it took me a long time to figure it out for myself so I think it’s an important thing to share!

Rule #2: THERE ARE NO RULES.

The other thing I hear and see a lot is “The Proper way to apply eye shadow.”
WHAT!? THERE’S ONE PROPER WAY? All of these different eyes and there’s one standard way we should be doing our shadow? No.
I won’t accept it.
Here at eyeshadow school I will show you my favorite (and oh so simple) shadow techniques and I might even plug an eye shape for one that it could be particularly flattering for but I won’t be making rules. Since everyone is so unique (in look and taste) the only way to really find out what is “Proper” for you is to try it on yourself.

Are you guys excited? I am.
Part of School will be a Q&A video so please leave any questions you have below and I’ll either address them with a post or during the video!

Hope you all have a LOVELY Holiday (for those in the US) and weekend!
LOVE YOU!

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172 Comments

Very excited! I do eyeshadow regularly, but I always stick to just the eyelid. I’d love to be able to wing it out a bit on the sides every now and then, but whenever I try I look crazy. Would love to know how to make it even and controlled, instead of looking like you smeared your eyeshadow too far.

Jenny

July 7, 2014 at 4:59 am

I would love to see help on 44 year old drooping lids with a natural downturn at the outer corners. They have always been droopy but now are worsening. Can’t see the lid below the crease at all when open and not a ton closed! Help!

Barbara

Wendy

Alyssa

July 7, 2014 at 2:44 pm

Yes! For me, only one eye is extremely hooded due to surgeries and the other is not. Tips on how to make 2 different shaped eyes look better please? I’ve basically given up on eye shadow and I’m only 21.

Tammy

July 7, 2014 at 3:14 pm

Same here! 41 with heavier lid and downturned eyes. I would love to see how to make them look more open and turned up. I am also wondering if other people have issues with the shadow not blending or looking clumping?

Darcie R

This is awesome! I have super hooded eyes and I feel like as I get older, my eyeballs recede further into the back of my head. Do you have suggestions for hooded eye makeup? I guess my eyes are sort of like Jessica’s, but a puffier hood. So…any suggestions for de-puffing?!

Sabrina Botelho

July 7, 2014 at 5:05 am

Remember how we all helped each other figure out face shaped via Instagram a while back. Do you think we can do that again? I have such a hard time finding out how my eyes are shaped. One day I think def protruding the next I think hooded lol. It’s def not as clear as face shapes so I know it’d be a bit of a challenge

Emily

Jenny

July 8, 2014 at 9:48 pm

I second this! My specific questions are:
How do I get anything to stay put on my lower lash line? As I wear eye shadow, eye liner, mascara on my lower lashes a few hours later it has melted and migrated down off my lower lashes, giving me a horrible raccoon eye!

Are we supposed to be applying eyeshadow primer along the bottom lashes/lashline as well?

As a brown-eyed girl with an olive completion I was told to avoid pink eye shadows as it can make me look tired and go with olive greens and plum purples instead. Are their any other colors I can consider?

Annette

July 7, 2014 at 5:41 am

Cara – I would be one of your followers that feels clueless with shadows. I have watched tons of videos. I pin tons of tips. It just seems like when I try … I never blend properly? I don’t know. I am not confident. I also would like you to help those of us with droopy eyelids. It makes it difficult – especially for liner. Thanks!

So my big question is how do I experiment with color without looking koo koo? I have a few palates with some awesome colors, but they have never been touched by my brushes 🙁 scared of ’em! I stick to the neutrals always! Help me get some fun on my lids Cara!

Holley

delaney c

July 7, 2014 at 11:48 am

i also mostly stick to neutrals. I want tips on blending both neutrals and color, where to use the matte colors in my palettes or the shimmers. i usually do the darkest color in my crease with a lighter color on lid and by the eyebrow, is that right? i use a primer, but sometimes I still feel my color ends up looking dirty.

I love that winged “pinterest-y” (is that a word? no? it is now! 🙂 ) look but my eyes are rounder shaped so there is no natural place to apply shadow to the outer “V” to make it darken and look more winged! My eyes are more like an outer “C”…. how can us rounder girls wear winged shadow?

laura

April

July 7, 2014 at 5:58 am

So this is more about liner but I’m pretty certain I can’t rim my eyes with black. It just doesn’t look right. Not sure why because I feel like it finishes off a smoky eye really pretty on everyone else… but me. 🙁

Martha Coscarart

July 7, 2014 at 6:07 am

So excited to see more! My question is about eye liner. I have trouble getting it to stay put close to my lash line. After an hour I have bare skin along lashes and my shadow and liner has migrated up and away. Any tricks? Thanks!!!

Debbie Skwirsk

July 7, 2014 at 6:08 am

I guess I am surprised by the number of women who say they have eyeshadow colors that they have never used. BE BOLD. Sit in front of your mirror and experiment, You will be amazed at what looks good on you. Rite Aid has a return policy for make-up. Keep your receipt, if you don’t like a product for ANY reason return it for a full refund. You won’t be stuck with anything you do not like. I have expanded my color pallet so far because of this experimentation and return policy. Good Luck and God Bless All of Us.

I’m so glad you pointed this out. I have noticed, too, that most pinterest tutorials are for eye shapes I don’t have. Therefore, the look with be very different on me. I don’t think most people realize this, though!

Angela S

July 7, 2014 at 6:47 am

Hi! My issue is that I have deep set almond shaped eyes AND oily skin! I cannot keep eyeshadow on my eyes without them clumping and creasing within 2 hours of putting it on. I’ve tried primers (maybe not the right ones), and setting it with powder. I’ve pretty much given up. Any suggestions?

rachel

July 8, 2014 at 4:57 am

I have the same problem! I have very oily eyelids and a few hours after putting on eyeshadow it’s either completely gone or moved around into the crease. I’ve tried a ton of different primers, setting powders and setting sprays. nothing works. Suggestions would be great!

Liz C

Cait

July 7, 2014 at 7:17 am

I haven’t read through all the replies so I’m not sure if I’m being redundant but here are my question, thoughts exc.
1. I have a problem recreating a look because I’m not sure how many colors are actually being used in the look, how they are layered or if they are being layered, just by looking at them.

2. I don’t know what colors will look good on me. I have the same exact coloring as Anne Hathaway- skin tone, hair color, eye color and shape and it’s hard to find eye shadow that brings out my eyes but doesn’t overwhelm my lighter skin tone. If I try to add shadow to my bottom lash line I look like I’ve been punched.

3. I have never felt like I have found a look that really enhances the golden tones in my brown eyes. Everyone says to use blue but I always end up looking like Mimi.

4. I can’t just walk into MAC and know what colors are going to look good on me.

Carlie

July 7, 2014 at 7:22 am

I’m not sure if liner would be something you’d be willing to cover, but I do have a question in case it is. Like many of the women above, I have hooded lids, and that skin always rubs directly on my lash line, which transfers liner in an adorable little arc in the middle of my lid. I’ve tried kohl, pencil, gel, and liquids liners to no avail. I’ve also tried putting the same color shadow on the liner to set it (or setting spray), but everything inevitably smudges and transfers. Do you know how to get around this issue?? Thank you!!!

Carlie

July 7, 2014 at 7:41 am

Unfortunately it doesn’t happen until 30-45 minutes after I finish my makeup, so I always think it finally stayed put. Also, the black liner doesn’t always go with the lighter shadows I might be using 🙁 It’s a good idea though…

Sassa

July 7, 2014 at 1:11 pm

This may not work for you, but I found that as I got older (well, just plain old), eyeliner looked too harsh above my lashes. So I started tightlining instead and it defines my eye without closing it up. Maybe tightlining would work for your problem as well? Since it’s not rubbing against the crease in your eye it wouldn’t leave the mark on it.

Tonya

Carlie

July 7, 2014 at 9:16 pm

Tight-lining definitely helps, especially on those days that I don’t want to deal with liner. I am into the whole cat-eye/winged liner thing though, and the part that transfers for me is the outer portion of the liner from the middle of my eye to the wing. So my goal would be to find a way to keep the liner in its place in that outer part!

Also, tight-lining is just adding liner there in between your actual lashes, even lower on the lashline that you liner normally gets to. It doesn’t look like liner, it just looks like the lashline is thicker.

Sassa

July 8, 2014 at 3:33 am

By tight lining, I mean that I put the liner underneath my lashes, on the upper water line. The bonus for this is that it seems to last pretty long there compared to above my lashes. The downside is that color doesn’t seem to show up (for me, at least). No matter what I put there, it looks brownish/black.

Carli

July 7, 2014 at 7:31 am

Thank you!!!! My main problem is that I want to try new things, so I buy a pallet that has a lot of colors and I end up using one or two of the safe colors. Usually taupe. Then I decide I am going to try some of the other bolder colors and I end up looking like I came straight from the 80’s. So my question is how to pair different colors together and how to use them so I don’t look like a 4 yr old put it on for me?

Jessica

July 7, 2014 at 7:32 am

Blending! In all of your shadow videos and posts you always say the key is to “blend, blend, blend” but I can never seem to get it right! 🙁 The videos always say to blend, blend, blend and then immediately cuts to the finished product. I would love to see the actual blending process! What brushes do you use? How long does it take? What techniques do you use? What if you put too much?
Thank you, Cara! You’re the best!

erin

July 7, 2014 at 7:51 am

Cara, I’m 51 and have loose skin in and over my eye crease. When I apply eyeshadow for crease definition, I have to be careful with the brush. I usually apply it in the natural direction that the loose skin moves. Does what I’m saying make any sense? It’s so hard to describe! Anyway, it doesn’t look good since the skin is loose and the crease definition ends up above the crease. Help! I’m just ready to give up with eyeshadow now. Aging rewrites everything.

Pochamocha23

July 7, 2014 at 8:06 am

You are an angel, Cara!!! I have eyelids almost exactly like Lilly Galichi and every makeup tutorial on YouTube shows darkening the crease area. With eyes like that, I basically have black sockets above my tiny eyes (not attractive). If you could do a shadow guide, like you did for HACing different face shapes, that would be perfect! You are the best, Cara!

ashley

July 7, 2014 at 8:09 am

I would love a tutorial on blended eye liner for someone with really light features. (light skin, very light eyes) as the color suggested are often way too dark and look harsh. Also, should I just skip liner on the bottom if I have a deeper set eyes like JEssica? Because I’ve been told that, but it looks like she’s wearing some in the picture and I feel like it helps to define her eye. Although, she does have darker features.

Carrie F.

Cara I am a hairstylist and makeup artist too. One of my big things is there are no rules for eyeshadow! I can’t tell you how many times a woman loves a look but tells me she can’t wear it because it isn’t “proper” for her age, application, ethnicity, etc. I am so glad you agree!

How exciting!!! I have a heavy crease but my eyes are not prominent at all (i.e., I don’t a lot of eye lid). Unless I use a very light eyeshadow, it looks like I have a black eye. I’d love to hear your take on that type of eye and hear/see how you could create the illusion of a bigger eye. Thank you so much! XOXO

I’m guilty as charged! I feel very unsure about eyeshadow application. I put it on, but feel like I’m not making the most of my features. My eyes are deepset, small and a bit hooded. On top of this I suffer from dark circles. Eyeshadow easily looks dark on me, making my circles look darker and my eyes smaller. But when I forgo eyeshadow my eyes lack definition, especially since they are small compared to the rest of my features. Would love to learn how to accentuate and bring out my eyes.

Bethany

I ditto the winged application look! Also, as someone with hooded lids, I always envy those beautiful fully-visible eyelids where the crease can be defined/accentuated with bold colors and application. I feel like us hooded girls don’t have the option to have fun with cat-eyes. Looking forward to this series!

Carrie F.

July 7, 2014 at 8:50 am

I am so excited for eyeshadow school! Eyeshadow is the thing that confounds me the most because we are supposed to do different looks based on the shape of our eyes, the size of our eyes, the kind of lids we have, and then consider if our eyes are deep set, close set, etc. Then, to confuse us even more, we are supposed to use certain colors to complement our eye color. Geesh! There is a lot to figure out. I would love help identifying the different types of eyes. I think mine are small but have no idea what shape they are. This eyeshadow student is ready to learn 🙂

Julia

July 7, 2014 at 9:06 am

That is an amazing idea to start Eyeshadow School. I have hooded heavy eyelids, and it’s always a nightmare for me to create something pretty on my eyes. It is either completely covered by my lids and not visible, or looks like a bruise 😀 Looking forward to the new lessons, hope they will help me 🙂

Regardless of eyelid size and eye shape etc., I watch a lot of youtube beauty videos and get so overwhelmed when they use like 5 colors of eyeshadow in different spots on the eyelid… I just give up! If it was two maybe, or three max for a special occasion, then I would do it, but otherwise it’s just boggling to me.

Carla

July 7, 2014 at 9:52 am

I’ve watched a lot of videos and read a lot of “how-to” posts on where and how to apply different colors to the eyelid to produce various effects or whatever. When I do this, it all just kind of blends together and doesn’t look dimensional like it does in all the posts. And the colors I use never seem to show up very well. I use a good primer and high quality shadow pallets. Even the simple tutorials don’t turn out well!

Erica

Holley

July 7, 2014 at 10:00 am

Cara, I’ve have dark circles (pretty much always, no matter how well I sleep) because my skin is fair and the blue just shows through. I don’t like to wear a ton of concealer bc I think it looks worse (more unnatural) than just having some blue under my eyes. Is there a way to use eyeshadow to draw attention upward or to help make my eyes look more awake w/out caking on the products?

Julie Rasmussen

July 7, 2014 at 10:02 am

I have been waiting for a post like this!! So glad it’s a series too. I need help. From what you described I’m pretty sure I have heavy crease eyelids although I’ve always thought of them as a negative thing. I’m scared of eyeshadow because I want my eyes to appear pretty, rich and big and if I don’t get it right I feel like they look deep and sunken in. Does that make sense? Ps we went to elementary together and I went to hs with nick.

Amanda

July 7, 2014 at 10:03 am

Lots of questions here. First, I am afraid to try anything that isn’t neutral, don’t know what colors to use together (have several palates) and where they should go. I don’t wear eyeliner because I’m not confident with the blending, I’m also not confident with putting shadow on the lower lid….I see you do that a lot but am afraid I am going to look like a lady of the night……

Wendy Wei

July 7, 2014 at 10:14 am

I’m so excited for the Q&A video and I’m so glad you bring up this topic and to show that everyone’s eyes really are very different. A lot of the techniques and tutorials on eye makeup looks really easy but everyone has different types of eyes so it’s not easy at all. I have a crease but it gets covered by my hooded eyes so if you could show some type of techniques it would be great! Thank you!

Ricky

July 7, 2014 at 10:17 am

I’d love it if you could break down Iggy Azeala’s basic eyeshadow look.

Her eye makeup is always fairly simple/natural & I never realized how deceptive it was until I saw a pic of her in an airport with no makeup on & she has the tiniest hooded eyes. I realized just how good her makeup artist really is. Its the most natural looking fake crease I’ve ever seen.

Meg

Becca C

July 7, 2014 at 10:35 am

I have trouble with getting my eyeshadow blended right. I never can seem to reach the happy medium. It’s either too pronounced and not blended enough or muddy and too blended. Also I’d love help with color combinations in general, but also for different skin tones. I’m very pale and a lot of eye shadow looks too dark on me. I’d love to know what colors would work best for me to do a smokey eye, etc. Just a few difficulties that I have with eye shadow.

Jess

July 7, 2014 at 10:52 am

A good smoky eye for a Jessica Biel type eye and a bright summery eyeshadow look for the same type of eye that doesn’t look too heavy, but you can still tell you have makeup on. Most of the “summery” looks end up looking like I left off my eye makeup!! And I agree about the face and eye shape identifiers!!

Catherine

July 7, 2014 at 11:35 am

Very, very, very excited! I’m just starting to play with eyeshadow (at 36 years old!) and do feel a little clueless. I’m having some issues with eye makeup looking too heavy, not blending well, and not really making my eye color (blue) stand out.

Not sure if eye liner will fit into eyeshadow school, but I would love to hear more about it. I feel like it always comes out too harsh on me. Not sure if that is about technique, product, or so much time without any makeup skewing my impression.

Very excited for this series! Due to my thyroid medical condition, I have large protuding eyes with dark under eye circles. Could you please include tips for minimizing eyes (which eye shadow: matte or shimmer, where to place shadow on big lid, etc). Thank you!!

This has been my issue all summer ever since my cousin did my makeup (she just became a professional makeup artist). She did it so beautifully and I even bought a MAC palette (huge splurge for me) and was so upset that when I did it, it did not look the same! So…yes I am excited! Could you please show at some point different eye shapes with the same look to get a better idea of what my shape could be and how to best highlight my shape? Thank you so much Cara! <3

Love learning new things about makeup and trying out different techniques. I wear glasses but want to be able to create different looks. Most of the time eye makeup for glasses is the same-old. What are some ways that I may change up eye makeup that is appropriate for work but fun?

Yay, I’m so excited for this, I’ve been waiting for this like…forever! I would really like to know how to apply eyeshadow to hooded eyes (I have a friend of mine, who sometimes asks me to do her make up, but her eyelid form is soo different from mine and techniques that I use for myself doesn’t work that great) and how to make them even more stunning 🙂

Thank you so much for this, Cara! I have Asian eyes with a crease that’s hardly visible. I’d love to learn tips on how best to work with eyeshadow for Asian eyes! You make such great points about a prominent vs. less-prominent lid. Often times, dark shadows look like I gave myself a black eye whereas they look beautiful on others!

Kim

katie

July 7, 2014 at 1:59 pm

Sooo…i know only one other person has commented on glasses BUT i will throw my 2 cents. I wear glasses, have to, love to. they’re pretty open, black and medium/thin thickness. you can see more of my eye lids when open than jessica beals and a little less than lilly’s. I’ve found experiments usually end up with my eyes looking like they have A LOT going on. just a dark blur. I’ve decided hot smokey date night eye is a no-go for glasses. if so, i can except that….am i wrong? lighter colors and simple techniques seem to work. but i find it hard to really make my eyes look striking behind frames….even if they’re cute ones.

Phyllis

July 7, 2014 at 2:14 pm

Excited for this new segment! Two questions for you. First, what shape of eye should try the eye shadow on the bottom eye in lieu of a black eye liner pencil? It seems when I do it I just look like I have a black eye. I’ve read it’s suppose to make your eyes bigger, hence making it look much more prominent. I’d like your help on this because I may just resort back to my good ‘ol black liner pencil 🙂 Second question, should all women use eye shadow to fill in brows? I typically don’t, but I’m wondering whether it would strengthen my features or simply look way to done up. Any clarification would be fantastic!

Jeree B

July 7, 2014 at 2:47 pm

SO excited for eyeshadow help. I tried to look at an old post and video on your site but it wasn’t working. I think I have a prominent eye, but my problem is that my eyebrows are really high. Like REALLY high, a good half inch above my crease. Any help would be appreciated!!

My biggest issue with eyeshadow is making it work when the visible lid space under the crease differs significantly on each eye. Most eye shadow looks I try look great on one eye but the other eye looks like it’s swollen or “sleepy”. It’s even worse if I try to line my lids. I’d appreciate any tips you can give me.

Adrian

July 7, 2014 at 3:46 pm

I have very hooded eyelids and the corners naturally appear down-turned. Is there no hope of me ever being able to wear a cat eye look? I also have trouble putting eye-shadow on my lower lash line without appearing to have a black eye like others have mentioned. Lastly, I have eyes that are a dark grey-blue not a light bright blue, so I tend to stick to neutral colors. Any color suggestions are very welcome!

I feel so uncomfortable applying liquid liner but I love wearing false eyelashes. Can you give me some tips and products. I have tried so many liquid liners and totally given up because I can’t get them to look good. I also don’t know how much is too much? Thanks for the post, I am thrilled.

Paty

July 7, 2014 at 5:45 pm

I love your blog. I jus have a question. What is the best or most flattering way to do eye shadows on protruding eyes? things to avoid? I heard that you should avoid harsh lines and to use only dark tones is that true? I feel that that only limits your options. Do you have any more suggestions, Thank you. I am SO looking forward to eyeshadow school

Shelley Walklin

July 7, 2014 at 5:48 pm

I have large droopy sleepy aged eyes. When I use shadow that are dark on the lid to minimize heavy eyelids, I look even more tired. When I blend the shadows like mid tones with crease colors it looks like a muddy mess. Help!

olivia

July 7, 2014 at 6:41 pm

I think I may be the MOST excited for eye shadow school. I am more Jessica Biel’s shape and also have natural dark-circles under my eyes. Do you think there’s any way for me to pull off a smoky eye without looking like I broke my nose? What do you think would be most flattering?

I wish I could do Jessica Biels makeup in this picture. Tutorial?? My eyes are like hers, as in shape, and no one can see the shadow that I apply so I usually don’t bother! My eyes are brown…are there any shadow colors that can make them pop? I know purple tones can look okay, but sometimes I feel like purple makes me look tired. Anyway, I’m happy you posted about this because I am definitely one of those people who just can’t figure out the eyeshadow thing. : )

Beth and Beauty

Yellowlees Douglas

July 7, 2014 at 8:33 pm

I know that, even with the limitations of eye shape, you can nevertheless change the appearance of your shape by shading, particularly the lighter shadow on the lid and darker in the crease trick. My eye shape and lids are exactly like Carolyn Murphy’s–but I’d rather have a heavier lid and more prominent crease. Any tips on how to achieve this?

J L

susan keller

July 7, 2014 at 8:38 pm

I couldn’t agree with you more!
The majority of my 53 years have been spent in the beauty industry working for major cosmetics companies. I’ve always educated my customers on the specific architecture of their own eye and how it would, or would not lend itself to certain makeup ‘looks’. And I reeally dislike ‘rules’! LOL

Gianna

July 7, 2014 at 8:54 pm

Hi Cara! I have the hardest time with brown eyeshadow not looking right with my complexion. It just looks dirty or orangey. I have olive skin so it seems weird that brown would look bad. Any advice? Thank you and congratulations on your pregnancy. .. you have such a cute family. 🙂 g

Megan

July 7, 2014 at 9:12 pm

Hi Cara,

Could you show us how to tight line? I’m not a fan of thick harsh eyeliner, I like to keep the eyeliner simple, while making the eyeshadow more fun. Looking forward to this post!! Can’t wait to try all of your tips and tricks!

Kathy

July 7, 2014 at 9:31 pm

Hi Cara! This is such a great idea, thank you for implementing eye shadow school for us! I’m 22 and I really love make up (especially eye shadow) and I wear it everyday. I like both the natural and more dramatic looks. I have slightly hooded eyes and after many many attempts I am still unable to apply liquid eyeliner or anything even slightly close to a cat eye without the line drooping down and making my eyes look like they’re pulling downwards =/ The other problem that I have is with more dramatic eyeshadow looks. Along with my eyes being slightly hooded, I do not have a deep crease, so when doing more dramatic looks, I try to blend my crease color up higher than my natural crease. Unfortunately, I feel like the looks jsut becomes messy and heavy looking on my eyes. So if you could do some tutorials on wearing liquid liner or winged eye liner on eyes that have hooded outer corners and some more dramatic eyeshadow looks for hooded eyes, that would be awesome! Thank you again!

Sharee Poyfair

July 7, 2014 at 9:44 pm

My sisters all have eyes that are setback/hooded – so you can’t see much of their eye lid. They desperately want to know how to apply eye shadow for eyes shaped like that. They feel like when they apply eye shadow, no one ends up seeing it anyway… I would LOVE it if you could address that in your post. Thank you!!

Megan

July 7, 2014 at 9:53 pm

Hi Cara! I’m fair skinned with blonde hair, and am wondering what’s the best way to achieve a natural smokey eye? I’ve tried black eyeliner, but think it’s too harsh. I usually steer more towards browns. Also, should you always line your waterline when doing a smokey eye? Thanks so much–you are amazing at what you do!!

Becka T

July 7, 2014 at 9:57 pm

Yay! This sounds great! I’ve got very deep set eyes and long eyelashes that tend to melt mascara straight up onto my brow bone – I have a feeling eye shadow up there would help with this problem, but it’s tough to have a “no makeup” makeup look with enough eye shadow up there to make a difference. Maybe something you could address? Either way, I’m really looking forward to eye shadow school!

Cam

Super excited to see this too! It’s taken me a while to get used to wearing eyeshadow, mainly because sometimes a lot of shadow “ages” me or makes me feel I look a lot older than I am (33.) So I get really scared of even a smokey eye if done wrong. My main questions are:

1. How to know how much is too much vs. just enough (so I don’t look like a hooker or a grandma)?
2. What about eye liner? I see every makeup artist use it but I hate this look on me (I have almond eyes.)
3. How to keep it on and lasting all day???

I never had a problem with eyeshadow, I just plonk it on and blend it out if it looks wrong, until it looks better. This, though is really interesting and I will try to do it a little more structured towards my eye shape, because I had never thought about it before haha! I’m excited to see more posts on this 😀 xx

cambria

July 8, 2014 at 4:44 am

I have hooded eyes and I can’t figure out how to not get my eye shadow and liner to not transfer to my hood. I like to to a color liner and I add shadow over that for staying power. I do use a shadow base bit it still transfers. I find hooded eyes hard to work with. Any tips would be great! Thanks.

Channy

July 8, 2014 at 6:22 am

I feel good about applying brown/cream natural colors, but I feel clueless when it comes to any other color. Black really freaks me out. I have always wanted to try purple, but I don’t know what to do with it.

As you alluded to above, people seem to focus on heavy-lidded women with olive or darker complexions, but as a white, pasty strawberry-blonde I feel kind of clueless. Can you demonstrate some eye shadow techniques on a woman (or women) with a fair complexion and naturally fair colored hair?

Also, could you address eye shadow brands that are the kindest on the eyes and skin? I have a choice between wearing glasses (which obscure my blue-gray eyes) or wearing contacts. But I’ve had so many issues with getting irritating beauty products in my eyes that I’m back to glasses again.

Are you going to include mascara in these tutorials? Because as a fair-complexioned woman this is what I really crave. As a strawberry-blonde, am I supposed to be wearing brown or black? Am I supposed to be applying to my lower eyelashes too? And I know everybody and their sister goes on and on about how they want thick thick thick lashes, but I could care less about thick – what I really want is something that looks natural and non-clumpy.

Fran

July 8, 2014 at 10:31 am

Need help with Asian eyes. It’s almost impossible to find someone behind the makeup counters at Dept. stores that can do Asian eyes correctly. After they apply my eyeshade you can barely see that I have eye shadow on. I was once told by a SF makeup artist are afraid to do Asian eyes because they are so difficult to do.

Alex

July 8, 2014 at 11:38 am

So exciting! I love eyeshadow and experimenting with eyeshadow, so I share your confusion when my friends say that they are clueless about eyeshadow. One issue I’ve had relates to my eye(lid) shape. My eyelids are more like Jessica Biel’s. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I have hooded eyes, but every time I try to do a cat eye or eyeliner flick, the line gets distorted by my eyelid (and just ends up looking like a weird sideways comma). And yet I am not ready to give up on having a successful cat eye/eyeliner flick. Any ideas?? Thank you! I love your makeovers and tutorials!!

jamie

July 8, 2014 at 1:56 pm

I have really deep set eyes. I find that if I don’t use a waterproof mascara that my lashes rest on my cheeks and have me looking like a raccoon in an hour or two. I also have asymmetrical lids. I have one lid that is definitely “droopier” than the other. Any tips on how to fix this mascara issue and how to work around asymmetrical eyes? thanks!

Kristen

July 8, 2014 at 4:42 pm

I think this sounds amazing! I have pretty prominent eyelids, but my problem has always been picking out eye shadows that really accentuate my eyes. After watching one of your make up videos, I started using my matte bronzer on my lids and on my bottom lash line. I LOVE the look – works well with my green eyes and has a subtle sultry look that is appropriate day or night. However, picking actual colors, using more than one shade, and going above the crease have proven to be a bit more intimidating.

Molly

July 8, 2014 at 6:59 pm

The problem that I have is knowing what colors to put where. I figure that you want a lighter color on the inner eye, and a darker in the crease… but what colors go together? I also would love for you to add tips for blondes. I love all of your videos, but sometimes I feel like it wouldn’t look appropriate on me because I have such light hair compared to yours. Another this is that I don’t know where I should be putting eyeliner. It doesn’t look good on the bottom (at least the way I do it) so I would really be excited if you included that in your schooling 🙂 Also, my crease is not prominent at all.

Caroline

Lately I have sleepless night, thus, my eyes looks very tired with eye bags. I’ve tried a lot of products but they didn’t work. Do you have any suggestion/tips for me? Can’t wait for the eyeshadow school =)

Amanda June

July 9, 2014 at 7:56 am

Great! I think I’m OK with eyeshadow (especially after a great pre-wedding tutorial last year at Sephora), but I’m hoping what’s next is blush school! It seems dumb even to me, but I feel like I cannot get blush to look right for the LIFE of me!!

Hi! I’m excited about this! I’m 26 and I think I have round eyes and they are a bit downturned but I’m not sure! I love eyeliner but it never looks good on me… it makes my eyes look more round and droopy and I don’t like it! I would love to know how to make my eyes look more flattering with eyeshadow and eyeliner! 😀

Denise McCormick

July 9, 2014 at 9:41 am

As others have said, I too have trouble with blending. When I first apply, it looks like a distinctive line of color, but then as I try to blend it all seems to run together and look like I just smeared color all over the lower lid–it loses all definition and sense of having been “placed” or applied to specific areas. Also, I am overwhelmed and intimidated by all the many brushes there are for applying. Is it possible to do a decent everyday look with, say, only two brushes or maybe three? What are those exact brushes and how, exactly, do I use each one?

Christina Johnson

July 9, 2014 at 10:53 am

I hope this isn’t too much to ask and I’m kind of embarrassed to even ask you this because you’re pregnant and so busy..
My friends and I are profoundly deaf, but we read and talk about your blog all the time. We’re really interested in your eyeshadow tips, but we can’t hear videos. Is there any way you could please list the important points in the ‘About’ section of the video so we can understand what your tips are? Even if you can’t thank you so much for running an awesome blog!
-Christina, Carla, and Eve

I love idea, Cara and I am so excited for eye shadow school. I would definitely say I am bad with eye shadow. Partly because I have monolids so I feel like I don’t have a great amount of options. I hate those blunt swoops of color over my lid, and yet I can’t really tell a huge difference when I use more ‘earthy’ shades like browns, blacks and deep golds. I would love for you to point me in the right direction and incorporate some thoughts for those with hooded and monolid eyes 🙂

Miki

I’m so excited for eyeshadow school!!! I admit I am one of those people who says they “can’t do” eyeshadow the “right” way. I love that you’re going to be helping set me straight 🙂 My biggest problem is when I practice a look on myself I have mild (but everywhere on my face) rosacea. So my face is constantly red and I find it really difficult to make eyeshadows work with that. I love stuff I see online but it ends up looking not quite right on me (or I don’t do it justice). I have blonde hair, blue almond shaped eyes w little to no space below my crease (Jessica Bielly eyes) and a round red face lol. Any help would be awesome! Thanks!

Rebecca

Hi Cara! If you covered any of these topics I would be appreciative: how to do dramatic makeup on someone with light coloring, how to prevent eyeshadow from creating “eye gunk”, cool eyeshadow looks with 1-2 colors, or how to do a cat eye for those of us with down-turned eyes! Thanks!

Ginger Jen

July 14, 2014 at 5:57 am

I am a redhead with blonde lashes and every time I get my makeup done by a “pro” I end up with either massively dark eyes or I look like an albino. And can we talk about how to use eyeliner on blonde lashes? Because that has been a disaster…..

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[…] She does a variety of posts from makeovers to tutorials. Back in July Cara did a post series called Eye Shadow School where she went over the supplies, and then several posts each on a different technique. One […]

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About Me

Hi! I'm Cara.

I'm the founder and creator of Maskcara Beauty. I live in Southern Utah with my husband and three boys and one girl. (We’re a foster family!) When I’m not being a mom, I’m a makeup artist, beauty blogger and business owner. I created Maskcara to share my love of beauty.

I believe that most women are twice as pretty as they give themselves credit for inside and out, I’m on a mission to change that.